The Ministry of Agriculture has revealed that more shs 16bn is needed to fight locusts. 

The locusts have since their invasion spread to 23 districts in the eastern and northern parts of the country.

During a press conference on Wednesday, the minister of Agriculture Vincent Sempijja said the money will be used to boost capacity of the existing locust control operations.

“We have asked for more Shs16 billion. Of this, Shs9b will be for the UPDF response team, Shs5.6b will be used to buy more chemicals and the rest shall be used to support lower local governments,” he said.

Sempijja added that no mature locusts have been sighted in the country yet. Mature locusts are according to experts more deadly.

He also assured that government will soon wipe them out. 

“We are working with the Desert Locust Control Organisation of East Africa (DLCO-EA)  to confront the locusts from their breeding site in Turkana.”